Indexing system.



INVENTOH ATTORNEYS PATENTED AUG. 1l, 1908. S. B. DARLING. u INDEXING SYSTEM.

APPLIUATION FILED AUG. 15, 1907.

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S. B. DARLING. INDEXING SYSTEM APPLIGATIONHLBD AUG lll W/ TNESSES Afro/me YS SAMUEL BOYD DARLING, OF SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 11, 1908.

App1ication led August 15, 1907. Serial No. 388,640.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, SAMUEL BOYD DAR- LING, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Somerville, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and Improved Indexing System, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to indexing systems, my more particular object being to produce a means for arranging annotations, side notes and marginal citations, so that printed slips bearing the same may be inserted piecemeal in books from time to time, and so arranged that the operator may at any time place them in his books and may readily find them, together with all cross references relative to them, by aid of an improved reference scale constituting a part of my invention.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figurcs.

Figure 1 is a plan view of an open book provided with marginal citations and with the improved reference scale, the latter being shown as unfolded and in position for use with the marginal citations; E ig. 2 is a detail showing the book reference scale provided with a gummed edge and ready to be secured thereby into the book 3 Eig. 3 is a fragmentary plan showing how the book reference scale is secured to the book cover by aid of a gummed edge for this purpose, so as to exhibit the lettered side of the scale; and Fig. 4 is a plan view of one of the strips to be cut up and pasted into the book from time to time for the purpose of indicating cross references for marginal citations.

A book is shown at 5 and contains headings 6, 7 indicating different topics dwelt upon. The paging of the book is of the ordinary kind, the book being open, in this instance, at pages 98, 99. The book reference scale is shown at 8 and consists merely of a sheet of paper or cardboard provided with a gummed surface 10, the inner edge of which is indicated by a line 9. The book reference scale is mounted within the book by securing the gummed surface 10 directly to the book cover or to a blank page, the paper of the book reference scale being folded along the line 9, or in other words, at the edge of the gummed surface (see Fig. 3). The back of the sheet 8 may be used for exhibiting directions for use, the heading Directions being indicated by the numeral 11.

The leaf 8 shows upon its front face (see Fig. 3) the several intelligible characters together making up the reference scale. There are two vertical columns 12, 13, which I designate respectively as the outside column and the inside column. The outside column contains the alphabet exhibited in capital letters 14, 15, while the inside column contains the alphabet exhibited in lower case letters 18, 19. Leader lines 16, 17, 20, 21 extend toward the right from the alphabet letters, as will be understood from Fig. 3.

Legends 22, 23 give instructions as to the use of the alphabet letters and leader lines. Strips 24 (see Fig. 4) printed from time to time are distributed to the several persons using the invention. Each strip 24 contains marginal lines 25, 26 along which the strip may be conveniently cut. Numerals 27 29, printed in heavy type and accompanied by alphabet letters 28, 30, also in heavy type, constitute headings for the citations indicated at 31. Fragmentary strips 32, 33, containing the numerals in heavy type and alphabet letters 28, 30, made by cutting up the strip 24 shown at Fig. 4, are now pasted in appropriate places in the book 5, as indicated in Fig. 1. In the instance indicated in this figure the headings Elections and Electric Light are the ones under consideration. The fragmentary strip 32 contains cross references to elections and the fragmentary strip 33 contains cross references to electric light.

The operator having prepared his fragmentary strips 32, 33, places them in position. He finds the page upon which the strips are to be placed by the numerals 27, 29, the page in this instance being 98. He finds the position of the page by the alphabet letter 28, 30. This simply means that having placed the leaf 8 in the book, he looks down that leaf until he finds the alphabet letter corresponding to the alphabet letter 28 printed upon the fragmentary strip and places the fragmentary strip in question with its numeral 27 and alphabet letter 28 directly in line with the corresponding alphabet letter appearing upon the leaf 8. By this means it is not necessary for the operator to go into the merits of the subject in order to place the fragmentary strips properly in position. I-Ie simply glances at the strip to ascertain the page number and glances at the alphabet letter 28 or 30 to ascertain what art of the page the strip is to be pasted upon.

e need pay no attention whatever to the subject matter of the indexing. The margins of the book may thus be gradually filled in with annotations or cross references.

If desired the operator in writing a brief may cite the alphabet letters, as well as the page numbers, in order to refer to matter contained in the book shown in Fig. 1. In thisI case the reader of the book upon turning to the page number and alphabet letter mentioned will find not only the subject particularly mentioned, but also all cross references indicated by the fragmentary strips associated with the particular heading of the topic. Where a great deal of indexing is to be done, the device above described saves considerable time and it makes the indexing' a purely mechanical operation rather than work requiring the expenditure of thought.

By aid of this invention one man can do all of the brain work necessary for cross-referencing any number of books of the same kind, the readers of the books merely taking the trouble to paste in the fragmentary strips.

It will be noted that the system of indexing above described can be employed for all books and digests alike, independently of the form of classification already used in any one of them. My system permits of printing the citations in narrow columns and upon exceedingly thin paper so as not to increase materially the bulkiness of the books. My system also avoids repetition that is to say, some digests and text books use numbers as the distinctive mark for sections, others use letters, and still others employ neither numbers nor letters but differentiate by printing in different type. In such systems it frequently occurs that the same number er numbers appear several times in the same page or column. This difhculty I have overcome and at the same time produced amethod of referencing capable of universal application. I find it expedient to duplicate the .leaves 8, placing one in the front and one in the back of the book. This, however, is immaterial.

The invention may be used in various ways and I do not limit myself to any particular service it may perform. The citations appearing upon the fragmentary strips 32, 33 are preferably upon paper already gummed and ready for insertion. The scale may, if desired, be placed in the book as originally sold instead of being placed in the book afterward.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. An indexing system comprising fragmentary strips to be placed in a book, and a leaf provided with means whereby it may be connected with said book, said leaf being further provided with means for indicating the approximate point where said fragmentary strip is to be placed relatively to the top and bottom of a page.

2. An article of manufacture, comprising a leaf to be inserted in a book, said leaf being provided with intelligible characters disposed in the ferm of a column 'extending parallel with a margin of the book when the leaf is in place, and a fragmentary strip to be secured upon a margin of said book and provided with an intelligible character identical with one of said characters upon said leaf, said strip being adapted to occupy a predetermined position relatively to said leaf.

3. An article of manufacture, comprising a leaf to be connected with a book, said leaf being provided with reference characters arranged in the form of a column, and strips to be pasted within said book, each of said strips being provided with a reference character similar to one of said reference characters i said column.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

SAMUEL BOYD DARLING.

Witnesses:

ADA E. FLAGG, BERNARD S. MOODY. 

